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World

Peru’s ex-president Vizcarra to avoid prison, for now; only second president since 1985 to do so

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After being impeached for “moral incapacity” last November, Peru’s attorney general asked for 18 months of preventative prison while Martín Vizcarra is investigated for corruption charges, but a judge this week ruled he can remain free during the investigation, with certain restrictions such as no travel outside his home area and having to appear in court when required.

The country has a political system that has been described as cannibalistic, which has devoured the ambitions of those who achieved its highest political office and set up an amazing President-to-prison conveyor that has ensnared all but one of its presidents since 1985. Persecution, prosecution, prison–Peru is one of the most frequent presidential impeachers of all countries on Earth.

Vizcarra, who was president since 2018, has had 21 of his properties seized by the country’s attorney general office to guarantee eventual payment of reparations that may be ordered by the courts, said the AG’s office as it announced it will appeal the ruling.

By Milan Sime Martinic

Uproar after Bolivian congressmen given gift of ‘Viagra’ for Father’s Day

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Male members of the Bolivian lower house of congress received a packet of generic Sildenafil, the main ingredient in the ED pill Viagra, as they entered Congress Thursday, an early gift anticipating Bolivian Father’s Day Friday. It is believed the gift came from the MAS ruling party.

Opposition congresswoman Samantha Nogales called the gift “unacceptable, and a highly machista act,” while Senator Andrea Barrientos denounced the act in a tweet, “In times when we should speak of joint responsibility of care, of equity, of stability, public resources are spent on Viagra. A shame.”

The pills were wrapped in a crafts-tie made of construction paper which many of the men hung around their necks. Other congressmen, however, said they felt insulted, calling for an investigation of the use of funds.

By Milan Sime Martinic

50k earthquakes in 3 weeks herald volcanic eruption in Iceland

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Shaken and shaken again, Icelanders say they are learning to live with the quakes, but scientists say the seisms are a harbinger of volcanic activity and expect an eruption but do not know when.

The day it happens, however, the warning will be only minutes, they say.

Roads are cracked, Reykjavík is shaking. “It is stressful, said the prime minister.” There has not been this much activity this close to the capital, in more than 100 years, according to the BBC.

By Milan Sime Martinic

Jailed former Bolivian president taken to clinic with out-of-control blood pressure

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Jeanine Anez, accused of insurrection that allowed her to become president, was taken by ambulance from the La Paz woman’s prison to a private clinic for treatment. She was at the central prison instead of receiving the usual treatment for a former head of state because the government says she is being accused of crimes committed before she assumed the presidency, namely being a part of a purported coup d’etat. She claims political persecution.

“She has gotten sick–unbalanced,” said the prison warden, referring to what others have said is unbalanced blood pressure. “Doctors will let us know the situation.”

By Milan Sime Martinic

President of Tanzania dies age 61

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John Magufuli, a populist leader who contrasted his country with his African neighbors by declaring it “open for business” in the midst of regional pandemic lockdowns, died in a Dar es Salaam hospital Wednesday, announced the government.

His vice president said in a national address that he died of “chronic heart disease.”

By Milan Sime Martinic

Latin American Leftists not-so-hot on global warming

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Unlike in the US and Europe, the political left in South America is often mum on climate change, says an analysis by Americas Quarterly, which identifies a trend of diverging goals between leftist leaders and environmentalists in the region.

The report notes how Bolivia’s Evo Morales opened up the Tipnis Protected Area for energy exploration, and how in 2019 his country matched Brazil’s pro-deforestation record of President Bolsonaro with massive torchings inthe Amazon. Mexico’s Lopez Obrador and Venezuela’s Maduro are singled out as actively indifferent to environmental concerns, and former far-left Brazilian president Lula’s lack of criticism of Bolsonaro’s active deforestation. In all cases, says the report, environmental conditions have worsened considerably over the last years.

By Milan Sime Martinic

UN: 100k missing in Syria civil war

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The International Commission on Missing Persons estimates that the conflict in Syria that started as part of the Arab Spring 10 years ago has disasppeared Syrians and foreigners in Syria at the rate of about 10K per year. Many of the missing were said to be along migratory routes, Mediterranean crossings, and areas where they are preyed upon by criminal enterprises.

By Milan Sime Martinic

Imprisoned Bolivian president says government is violating her rights as a woman and former head of state as government ups the charges and judge orders her held for 4 months

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In appeals for oversight to the UN, the EU and the US, former Bolivian President Jeanine Anez, charged with sedition, says the government is ignoring her human rights. Former president Evo Morales has called on Twitter for punishment and those he says conspired in a coup to take him out of office in 2019.

Prosecutors now say she is not being held as an ex-president but for her actions prior to assuming the office; they have added new allegations that she forced the presidents of the upper and lower houses of Bolivia to resign so that she could take over as next-in-line.

By Milan Sime Martinic

Yangon student union boycotts military-owned products

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YANGON, Myanmar – The Yangon University Student Union has begun a boycott of military-owned products in response to the military’s violent crackdown, which has over the past two months of clashes led to a death toll of 86.

The University Student Union has urged people not to buy or sell brands of beer and cigarettes manufactured by military-owned companies. The student union alleges that revenue from those products has contributed to human rights violation throughout the country, especially in ethnic areas.

The Yangon University Student Union has a reputation for taking an active part in political activities throughout the ages. In British colonial days, student union led the movement to liberate Myanmar from British rule.

By Htay Win
Photo credit Khit Thit

IDPs call for removal of Myanmar military stations

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YANGON, Myanmar – Internally displaced people in Rakhine state have called for the removal of Myanmar military stations near their villages in order that they could get back to their villages after the clashes between Arakan Army and the military have stopped.

“We do not dare go back to my village even though there is no fighting because of Myanmar military stations near my Saukkhat village,” said a woman from the IDP camp.

According to Rakhine ethnic committee, there are 148 IDP camps with a total population of 190,000 in five townships in Rakhine state.

There had been fierce fighting between the Arakan Army and Myanmar military in Rakhine state since 2018, and people fled their villages to the IDP camps while seeing more deaths of non-combatants. A year earlier, in 2017, others from the area fled similar troubles to neighboring Bangladesh as well. The Arakan Army was formed for a purpose of political self-determination 10 years ago in Kachin state.

By Htay Win

Police in Bolivia arrest former President Jeanine Añez; she claims ‘political persecution’

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The former interim caretaker was arrested in the middle of the night at her home in the Amazonian region of Beni under accusations of sedition, terrorism, and complicity in a “coup” that ousted former President Evo Morales. The courts said she was considered a “flight risk.”

In turn, she accused the government of political persecution, “It accuses me of having participated in a coup that never happened,” she tweeted.

Añez assumed the presidency as the constitutional next-in-line after Morales, his vice-president. The presidents of the upper and lower houses of Congress, and the president of the Senate resigned following a countrywide revolt that questioned his claim to have won the country’s 2019 elections. She was the second vice president of the senate.

Her charge was to run the country until new elections were held; she held office for one year and was the country’s second woman president, handing over power to Luis Arce of Morales’s political party after a landslide victory in elections held in October 2020.

By Milan Sime Martinic

Mountain of gold discovered in Africa, mining banned while authorities figure what to do

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Luhihi Mountain in Congo’s South Kivo province is currently the scene of a gold rush, with some reports stating that the mountain is 60-90% gold. News of the mountain of gold caused hundreds of people to flock to the area with picks and shovels and a lot of ambition.

Melees erupted as masses of people worked up a frenzy to strike it rich with a handful of the precious metal. In turn, their actions caused the government to issue a decree banning mining on the mountain until new rules could be established, “Not only to protect lives but also to guarantee the traceability of the gold produced in accordance with Congolese law.”

The minister assured citizens that the suspension was made in order to identify the miners and ensure that they are registered with the regulators. “Traders, miners, and the Congolese Armed Forces (FARDC) must abandon the Luhihi mines and are prohibited from mining until further notice,” said the decree.

The discovery of the mound of gold ore is perhaps as significant for Congo as was the discovery of the Silver ore in Potosi, current-day Bolivia, in the 1500s, say mining analysts. The silver mountain made the former Inca hamlet the economic center of the world and transformed it into the wealthiest and most powerful city in the world at the time.

By Milan Sime Martinic